The time skip was a key event for the Straw Hats in One Piece. Here are the characters that improved significantly after the two-year shift.
One Piece is among the handful of anime that have a time-skip. In One Piece, the time-skip occurred after the Summit War was over. Luffy was badly wounded both mentally and physically, and when he regained his senses, he realized that he had to delay the gathering of his crew. So, he went to Marineford again with Rayleigh and Jimbei, and he had a tattoo on his arm, that read “3D2Y.”
The “3D” part was crossed out, which indicated that the crew would meet after 2 years instead of 3 days. The two-year time-skip enabled the Straw Hats to get stronger. This also applies to the other characters, who improved by leaps and bounds after the time-skip.
8Monkey D. Luffy
It was quite obvious that Luffy would have improved a lot after the time-skip. When he saw Ace being killed in front of his eyes, Luffy realized that he was too weak, and he had to get stronger. During the two years, Luffy trained under Rayleigh, and he learned about Haki and its applications.
Luffy’s training prepared him for the New World, and he was able to fight against much stronger opponents. Apart from his physical growth, Luffy has also developed as a character.
7Koby
Koby was introduced very early on in the series, but since then he has had limited appearances. Being a Marine, Koby was involved in the Summit War, where he was once again defeated rather easily by Luffy. During the war, Koby awakened Observation Haki, which allowed him to sense all the people who were dying around him.
After the time-skip, Koby’s physical strength has improved. At some point, he was involved in the Rocky Port incident, which made him famous among the Marines. Koby is also a part of SWORD, a secretive group whose plans are unknown, which suggests that he is now a much more reliable.
6Trafalgar Law
His appearance during the Sabaody Archipelago arc turned a lot of heads. With his cool personality and incredible devil fruit, Law became an instant hit with the fans. When he met the Straw Hats at Punk Hazard, Law offered Luffy the chance to create an alliance.
Law was unquestionably a good character before the time-skip, but he has become even more impressive ever since Law formed an alliance with Luffy. By creating an alliance with Luffy, Law has been involved a lot more in the series. He has fought multiple fights, and the biggest test of his strength came during the Wano Country arc, when he managed to take down Big Mom with the help of Eustass Kid.
5Chopper
Chopper is overlooked by his enemies because of his appearance. Even the World Government doesn’t treat him as a threat, and they have put a bounty of 100 berries on him. However, Chopper is very powerful, and his medical expertise has played a key role in helping the Straw Hats many times.
In the Zou arc, Chopper created the antidote to Caesar’s poison gas, which was used by Jack against the Minks. The antidote helped Sanji and co. to save the Minks from extinction. After the time-skip, Chopper has also developed better control over his devil fruit, which allows him to fight against opponents for longer.
4Eustass Kid
Eustass Kid played an extremely important role in the Wano Country arc. Kid is very serious about his goal of being the Pirate King and anyone who dares to make fun of his dream ends up dead. Like Luffy, Kid is very ambitious and is always looking for a challenge.
Before the Wano Country arc began, Kid’s biggest feat was injuring a Sweet Commander, which is not spectacular considering Luffy defeated two of them. However, Kid shone brightly in Wano Country as he fought against Big Mom. Kid teamed up with Law and together the two of them managed to defeat the Yonko.
3Donquixote Doflamingo
Doflamingo’s character was rather mysterious before the Dressrosa arc. He made a few appearances before the time-skip, but they did not reveal much about Doflamingo’s character and powers. It was Doflamingo became much more interesting after the time-skip.
He showcased the Ito Ito no Mi, which allowed him to create and control strings at will. During the Dressrosa arc, his dark side finally came out, and the fans got to experience his evil charisma. Even after being defeated by Luffy, Doflamingo continued to make appearances, which definitely made him a better character.
2Jimbei
Jimbei officially joined the Straw Hat Pirates in Wano. Jimbei was one of the more prominent figures in the Summit War arc, where he allied with Luffy and co. to save Ace. Ever since the Straw Hats entered the New World, Jimbei has been heavily involved in various arcs.
He played a crucial role in the Fish-Man Island arc, the Whole Cake Island arc, and the Wano Country arc. In the Fish-Man Island arc, he broke the racism barrier and effectively started a new era. When the Straw hats arrived at Whole Cake Island, Jimbei used his strength to help the Straw Hats to escape from Big Mom’s territory and then in the Wano Country arc, Jimbei defeated Who’s Who, one of the Tobi Roppo.
1Buggy
Buggy deserves a lot of credit for his achievements after the time-skip. While he did not improve massively in terms of strength, Buggy was able to trick the entire world into believing that he was a massive threat.
He managed to earn the title of the Shichibukai, which allowed him to extend his influence to the Underworld. Buggy successfully ran his business, and he was involved with some of the biggest names in the world and quite recently, Buggy was named one of the two Yonko.
